Alternate
by Anarchist's Rose
Summary: "We're legendary pokemon? A stuffy professor's kid, an insufferable know-it-all, and one of Team Galactic's admins? How is that even possible?"
1. Prologue

She sat on the edge of the cliff, looking out at the expanse of stars before her. It was pretty here. She never wanted to leave. Her usually dark hair looked almost silver in the moonlight. "I like it here," the little girl said, swinging her feet back and forth so the back of her heels hit the rocky cliffside, sending small rocks into the river below. "Mamma, why can't we go in there with Daddy?" The little girl lifted her hand and pointed at the cave across the bridge.

Her mother came over and sat next to her daughter, putting one hand over the little girl's. "He's giving thanks to Tapu Koko. We mustn't interrupt them."

"Why?" This was the favorite question of the little girl. Every time she was given an answer she wasn't satisfied with she would simply ask why. Her mother would give her logical answers. Her father would give her fantastic stories.

"Just because, Miliani. That's the way it's always been. We cannot interrupt the Kahuna while he talks to the sacred deity."

Miliani laid back, her legs still hanging off the edge of the cliff, but her back rested on the grass around her. "Can I be the Kahuna one day?"

Her mom gave a small laugh. "Maybe one day, my love."

Miliani felt her eyes grow heavy as she stared up at the stars. She wanted to give each of them a name. She wanted to know what each of the stars were there for. Thousands of glittery dots crowded the sky. That was her last thing she saw as she drifted off into unconsciousness.

The mother smiled at her daughter and got up from her spot on the edge of the cliff and picked up her daughter. She waited under a tree for her husband. He had been in there for an hour already. Surely everything was alright. The woman's prayers were answered as her husband walked out of the cave moments later. He carefully made his way across the bridge, remembering how dilapidated it was in his childhood. He looked to the moon and gave a small word of thanks as he finished crossing.

One thing the Kahuna was known for across the region was his giant smile. He gave it to his wife as soon as he saw her looking at him. Their daughter was asleep on her lap. "Oh man, sorry! How long has she been out?"

The woman passed the little girl off to her husband and gave a much more subdued smile. "Don't worry. Not long." The man kissed his wife's cheek, held their daughter with his right arm, and held his wife's hand with the left. "You were in there longer than usual. Is everything okay?"

The Kahuna shrugged. "Everything seems to be fine at the moment." The usually carefree man's face turned dark though for a moment though. "We need to be careful," he clutched his daughter, being careful not to let her fall. "The Ultra Beasts are restless. Something is coming."

"Any idea what this something is?"

"No idea. I just need to be on the lookout for three trainers. Each was once a legendary pokemon. Now they're human."

The woman's eyes became huge. "How is that possible?"

The man wished he could tell her, but he had no idea how, or even why, this was happening. He told his wife the last of what he could. "Time will tell."

* * *

Miliani sat on the front porch of the house. She was bored. She had two pokemon but she wasn't allowed to play with them without her mom or dad watching her. Dad was in the village and mom was making lunch. She held the two pokeballs, one in each hand, the balls far too big for her tiny hands. "When are we going to be able to play? I just want to play with you both."

A sound from the forest close to her house peaked her attention. "Hello?" No response. "Is anyone there?" Miliana looked over her shoulder. She could see through the window that her mother was at the stove, cooking, her back to her. "I'll just be a second," the little girl said to herself. She hopped up and followed the sound.

* * *

"Miliani! Lunch is ready!" There was no response. That was weird. The little girl loved to eat. She always came running at those words. The woman opened the door. Her daughter wasn't on the porch. "Miliani?"

Still no response. She felt her heart beat faster in her chest. Where had she gone? She abandoned the lunch she had created and searched everywhere she could think of for the little girl. "Miliani! Come here!"

When the sunset and the woman had yet to find her daughter, tears started to fall from her eyes. She heard her husband calling for her. "Lillie? Miliani? Where are you?"

Lillie got up and went to look for her husband. He was standing at the edge of the forest, the smile disappearing from his face when he saw Lillie crying. "Hey, what is it?"

"Hau," Lillie spoke quietly, "Miliani is missing."

 **A/N**

 **This story takes place several years after the events of Sun and Moon. This is also the second version of this prologue and it is replacing the original I had posted. The story will be the same, but many of the events I explained in the** **original prologue will be explained in a later chapter. I feel much better with this prologue and I hope you all enjoy the resulting story more as well.**


	2. Pearls

Chapter One

 _Ten Years Old_

Lyra took a deep breath as she looked at the blurry world in front of her. Her alarm clock had just gone off, singing the theme song of her favorite television show. Her eyes were blurry with sleep. Despite this she ripped off the pale pink covers and hopped out bed and onto the squishy carpet. Today she was leaving her little house in Veilstone City and catching a train to go to Sangem Town to pick up her first pokemon.

"Lyra, are you up yet?" her mother called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, mom!" She slipped on a pair of black leggings, a white shirt, a pale pink jacket and white tennis shoes before running into the kitchen. Her mother was stirring a pot filled with a creamy brown liquid. "Is that-?"

"Hot chocolate. Moomoo milk and heavy cream for the base and your favorite hot chocolate mix and vanilla for flavor."

"With whip cream and sprinkles?"

Her mother nodded. "Of course. How could I send my big strong trainer off without her favorite drink?" Her mother ladled a serving of the drink into a pale green mug and put the whipped cream and pink star sprinkles on top. "Do you have any idea what pokemon you're going to pick?"

Lyra shook her head, causing her messy brown locks to spill over her shoulders. "No idea! I just think they're all so cute! I have no idea which one I want. Maybe piplup. I've always thought it's so fluffy looking! Besides, I've always liked water types."

"You have, haven't you? When we go visit Pastoria City to visit Uncle David you just run straight to Lake Valor." Her mom shook her head, but Lyra didn't miss the smile on her face. "You brother and cousins spent hours looking for you the first time."

Lyra could feel the blood rushing to her face. Her brother had been so mad at her she started crying. He felt bad and let her ride his grotle back to their uncle's house. "Well who wouldn't like to go to the lakes? Lake Valor is cool and all, but I really like Lake Verity."

"Well once you get your starter you can go visit. It's not too far from Sandgem."

Lyra nodded as she finished up the last of her hot chocolate. "I will!" She then got up from the table and grabbed her backpack from the entryway. She had it packed for days, excited to leave and go on her way.

"Come back here and wash your mug, Lyra!" she heard her mom call from the kitchen. She rolled her eyes and trudged back to the kitchen where she quickly rinsed her mug out and placed it in the dishwasher.

"Alright, can I go now? My train's going to leave soon!"

Her mom pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Be careful on your journey. Call me whenever you get your pokemon and call me every time you reach a pokemon center."

Lyra hugged her mom back and nodded. "Yes ma'am." Lyra could feel tear pricking in the corners of her eyes, but blinked them away. "Don't worry about me, mom. I'll have my pokemon with me!"

The little girl walked away from the only home she knew. She walked past the gray buildings, taking great care to avoid the cracks in the concrete, still believing in the silly superstitions that stepping on a crack would break her mother's back. She played hopscotch on the sidewalk, where pink and blue lines drawn by children were the most color in the otherwise dreary city.

"Are you enjoying your game?" Lyra was focused on the hopscotch game in front of her when she noticed a woman watching her, a combee floating beside her, his little wings flittering at an impossible speed. The woman was probably in her early thirties, but to a ten year old that was an unreachable age, old. Despite this, the girl thought the woman was really pretty. She had a nice smile, and anyone with a pokemon as cute as hers must be nice.

"Yeah! I'm on my way to the train station. I'm going to go get my pokemon. I just thought it would be fun to play while I go to the station."

The woman crossed her arms. "Are you by yourself?"

Lyra shook her head, her disheveled hair becoming more a mess. "Not for long. Once I get to Sandgem I'll have my partner!"

"What time are they expecting you there?"

Lyra shrugged. "Tomorrow morning, I think. I'm supposed to get on the train, ride to Jubilife and stay the night in the pokemon center there. Then I need to walk to Sandgem tomorrow morning."

The woman crouched down so she was eye level with Lyra, and gave her a soft, sweet smile. Lyra felt like she could trust the woman, unaware of the effects of combee's sweet scent had on the mind. "If you want, I can show you a shortcut. I know a way to get to Sandgem Town, then you can get your pokemon today."

"Really?" Lyra's eyes lit up, growing wide at the thought of having a pokemon sooner than she expected.

"Yup. Just come with me and combee here."

"Okay!" The woman started to walk away, Lyra on her heels. "So where is this shortcut?"

The woman stopped in front of a warehouse, a smile on her face. "Right in here. If you come inside you'll get yourself a pokemon."

Lyra nodded. "Okay!" She opened the door and walked inside. She didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. She was innocent, more than most children. She didn't think of the bad things that could happen when talking to a stranger, especially one with such a nice smile.

 _Two Years Later_

"What do you think of that one?" A pair of Team Galactic admins watched over a group of grunts, each of who were battling against one another with various bug, dark and poison type pokemon. Their eyes were on a young male grunt with a croagunk. He looked skilled, as far as grunts go. He was ordering his pokemon around with skill, the little pokemon type dodging attacks from the opposing glameow with ease.

"He can be considered, but this is an undercover mission. Would he have his cover blown too soon?" the second admin asked. She crossed her arms and surveyed the room once more. "What do you think of that one, Mars?"

Mars looked in the direction that her companion was pointing. In a back corner stood one of their youngest grunts, one of the children they kidnapped when they were rebuilding the organization and needed members. She was battling with a zubat, a pokemon given to the lowliest of grunts, but she battled with it surprisingly well. The zubat held its own against the stunky it faced, and even landed a few blows. "Impressive. Which grunt is that? Number two-oh-eight? She might be just what we're looking for, Jupiter."

Jupiter smiled and turned on a PA announcement. "Grunt number 208 report to Commander Mar's office. Now." The admins watched as the girl looked bewildered. There was a myriad of expression in her eyes. Shock, confusion, fear, excitement. It was amusing.

Lyra returned her zubat and ended the battle with the grunt she was battling against. "Good job, Zubat."

The grunt she was facing snorted. "Your zubat hardly did anything! It couldn't knock out my stunky!"

Lyra gave the man a smile. "Your stunky couldn't even hit Zubat. How did you last this long when you have no skill as a trainer?" She turned her back to the man and walked away from the battle. She was aware of the eyes lingering on her as she walked away.

Lyra walked through the long gray and blue hall until she came to a door that led into the office. Her head was held high, but she could feel the beating of her heart in her chest. A small wave of anxiety washed over her, but she ignore it. To show signs of weakness was to show defeat. Those who are defeated pay the price. Inside sat two of the admins, looking her over with a smile on their face. "She is pretty cute. Are you sure she can handle it, Jupiter?" Lyra knew this was Commander Mars speaking. The third Commander Mars. The first one left when the team was disbanded originally. The second one was defeated too many times, and paid the price.

"Why don't we find out?" Commander Jupiter. The second one. The first, like Mars, vanished. She held onto her spot though. Commander Jupiter was thought to be one of the strongest out of the eight commanders, only Saturn and Neptune being stronger. "What's your name?"

"Grunt number two-hundred and eight." Her response was automatic, almost robotic.

"No, your real name, sweetie."

Lyra looked Commander Jupiter in the eyes, something she learned she was never to do to someone of higher status. "Lyra."

Jupiter gave Lyra a pat on the head and turned to face Mars. "I think she'll do just fine, with the proper training that is."

Mars nodded her head in agreement. "I think so too." Mars walked closer to Lyra. "Give me the zubat you've been training. You've done well with it. We'll take it to be trained up as a golbat."

Lyra nodded and passed her the pokeball, ignoring the sadness tugging at her heartstrings. Grunts weren't supposed to get close to their pokemon, but she liked her little poison type. Only admins and higher-ups got to form real connections with their pokemon. This way grunts couldn't rebel against their leaders.

"Lyra, you just became one of the most important members of Team Galactic. You're now in training to be our next Commander Venus."

Lyra couldn't stop the smile from crossing her face. "What?"

"We were tasked with choosing a new Venus. Our current one has decided to become one of our head scientists. She is doing a great thing for Team Galactic in choosing that career path, but it leaves us in a situation. Commander Venus was the one who did most of our undercover work. She will train you for the next year, teach you to battle and about undercover work, as well as what it means to be one of the top members of our team," Jupiter explained to the young girl.

Mars appeared behind her companion with a pair of pokeballs on a silver tray. "Of course, you'll receive compensation for doing your job, a higher pay and," she passed the two pokeballs to Lyra. "These two are yours. You'll be able to catch more pokemon while you're out doing undercover work, but these two are who we've selected to be your partners."

Lyra looked at her superior with confusion. "Selected?"

Mars nodded. "We have a PC system run by our scientists. Many of the pokemon we take, by legal means or otherwise, enter a breeding program. I just took two of the offspring out. I selected them just for you."

Lyra took the two pokeballs and released the pokemon that hid inside. She let out a breath. "Is it okay for me to have rare pokemon like these?"

Mars nodded. "They don't look like Team Galactic pokemon, do they?"

Lyra shook her head. "No, they don't."

Mars smiled, a rare occurrence for any of the admins, but she took a liking to the young girl. A glance a Jupiter and she could tell she was feeling the same way. It's why she gave her the two pokemon. "I thought cute pokemon would suit you better than some of the other grunts we give pokemon like this out to."

Lyra smiled. "I like them a lot." She bent down and started to pet the two pokemon before her. The first was a vulpix, female, white fur and blue eyes, signaling she was from Alola, or at least bred from two Alolan parents. The second was even more amazing. Eevee, male, silvery-cream fur and white mane, a rare color combination she knew was called shiny. "I promise I'll take good care of them." She then gave Jupiter and Mars a smile. "I'll do my best to make Team Galactic proud."

 **A/N**

 **Thank you all very much for reading this chapter. Please let me know what you think. The next couple of chapters will introduce the other two protagonists of this story. I hop you all enjoyed!**


	3. Diamonds

_Sixteen Years Old_

"If you would all turn your attention to battlefield three we have what proves to be an exciting battle here at the Lily of the Valley Conference here in the wonderful Sinnoh Region! On the left we have a talented returning competitor, coming to battle in his third conference here, from Sandgem we have Emmett Rowan!" He stepped onto the battlefield, taking a deep breath. This year was going to be his year. They always say third times the charm, right? Though he doesn't exactly know who 'they' is.

He looked at the pokeball in his hand, knowing exactly who he was going to call out to start this battle. If he won here he would make it to the top eight, into the finals, further than he ever got. "We got this, Rupert." He could feel the heat and excitement coming from the pokeball. He just needed to get past this last three on three battle before making it to the full battle rounds.

"And on the right we have a first time competitor, though she has proven that even a newbie can be a challenge. Give it up for Lyra Justine!" Emmett looked at his competitor as she stepped out onto the field. She was pretty, he guessed, a couple years younger by the look of it. She wore a pink dress with white flowers on it with matching pink and white flowers braided into her hair. Around her neck was a thin rose gold chain with a keystone. Subconsciously he starts rubbing the keystone on his wrist, wondering what kind of mega she has. She didn't look like a trainer, in fact she looked like a princess. She looks innocent, almost too much so. How did a trainer like her make into the league. Her eyes. Her face seemed friendly, but her eyes were cold and calculated. When she smiled and waved at the crowd they screamed for her, and she smiled bigger, but the smile never seemed to reach her eyes.

He shook himself out of his distraction. "Whatever," he muttered to himself. "This isn't the time." Why did she seem familiar?

"Competitors, send out your first pokemon!" the referee called. Emmett released the pokeball and out came his partner, his best friend, the pokemon he could count on for everything, Rupert, his Infernape.

He looked across from where he was and was surprised at what his opponent sent out. Who would have thought an innocent princess would send out a crobat? If the pokemon could hit Rupert with a flying attack it would do a lot of damage. Would it be better to switch out? His luxray, Phineas, would do a good job taking care of a flying pokemon like that. He smiled. He had a plan. "Rupert, use U-Turn!"

"Saros, use Cross Poison!" The crobat was faster, landing the poison attack on the fire type. Emmett looked for signs of Rupert getting poisoned, but saw none, letting out a sigh of relief as the infernape hit the crobat with the ineffective attack before returning to his pokeball.

"Go, Phineas!" The luxray stood on the field, small bursts of electricity bursting from the pokemon, his obvious power showing light a light in the dark.

Emmett looked at his opponent. He expected her to recall her pokemon since it didn't stand a chance against his electric type, but she called another attack. Her face could have been a mask. The smile she decorated her face with was fake. Why? She called out an attack and seemed happy enough, but her eyes were disappointed. "Cross Poison!"

The crobat went in for the attack and Emmett saw his opportunity, all the thoughts he had of his opponent leaving for the thrill of the battle. "When it gets close hit it with a Thunder Fang!" Phineas did exactly as he said, catching the bat before he could hit him with the poison type attack and shocking him. Even better, his pokemon held the struggling crobat in his jaws, refusing to let it escape. "Thunder!"

Phineas released a powerful lightning strike and his the pokemon directly. A critical hit. No way the crobat wasn't going to get knocked out.

His opponent returned the crobat. Emmett's suspicions that he knocked it were confirmed when the picture on the screen became gray. He watched the girl carefully look at the pokeball that contained her crobat. The first genuine expression he had seen crossed her features when she looked at the ball. "I'm sorry," she seemed to say.

Emmett smiled. "You giving up already? I'm just getting started!" he called across the field.

She smiled back at him, a real one. Finally. "Please! That was just a warm up for me."

The second pokemon she picked was another one he didn't expect her to have. This girl was full of surprises. She released her pokeball, "Holmes! Come out!" A hippowdon came onto the field. Good choice on her part. There wasn't much his luxray could do to the gargantuan ground type. Volt Switch wouldn't work against it. He supposed he could Crunch it into submission but that didn't seem like it would be the most effective plan.

"Phineas, return!" The pokemon returned to his pokeball and thought carefully. He could only use one more pokemon. He had four to choose from, unless he sent Rupert back out, but that wasn't going to be a smart match. One earthquake from the hippowdon and Rupert would be out. That really left him with one option. "Go, Calvin!" On the field now sat his pink sea slug, his gastrodon. This would be a slow battle between ground types. Emmett smiled, though. He had the type advantage. "Rain Dance!"

"Take Down!"

The hippowdon slammed into the gastrodon, but it looked mostly unfazed. It was probably one of the advantages of having a, as he called it, jelly body. The hippowdon did seem to take some damage from slamming into the pokemon so hard. Calvin completed the Rain Dance and the arena was filled with a rainstorm. Emmett smiled. Admittedly, this wouldn't be great for Rupert, but he could still use fighting type moves. Phineas's Thunder would get an accuracy boost.

"Surf!"

"Earthquake!"

The ground below him started shaking. Emmett felt himself lose his balance and fall to the ground. He could hear his opponent laugh at him, as well as the audience. He didn't let this faze him. He watched as Calvin released a huge surf and hit the hippowdon. He watched as the hippowdon struggled to remain conscious, but it fell. The girl returned the pokemon to his ball and she spoke to it quietly again, genuinely apologizing to the to it. This was weird to Emmett. It was a battle. Pokemon fainted. There was no way of avoiding it. He apologized to his pokemon when they fainted, sure, but the look she had, it was something more.

He looked at the girl's face once again. She looked so familiar. He felt like he knew her. He didn't know from where, though. He wanted to ask her, but he was distracted by her sending out her last pokemon. "Go, Aurora!"

He was surprised at what he saw, but not for the reason he was surprised by the last two. It was a ninetales from the Alola region. He'd never seen one in real life. He remembered learning about them and the other Alolan forms in Trainer's School when he was younger. He looked at the dual ice and fairy type. "This is the kind of pokemon I expected you to have, Princess!"

She gave a smile. "Don't underestimate her. She's one of my most powerful." As she spoke the rain became cold and turned into hail. Snow warning. Damn. There goes the rain. "Ice Beam!"

"Earthquake!"

The nintales is faster and hits Calvin, but he hangs on, using earthquake. The ninetales takes a bit of damage, but nothing substantial. He can see the hail taking its toll on Calvin, knocking him out. "Return." He called him back. "Thanks, Calv. You did great."

He grabbed Rupert's pokeball. Since he used U-Turn he hasn't had a chance to really battle. The hail won't effect him as much as it did Calvin either, and because it's an ice type, it won't last long against his partner. "Go, Rupert!"

The fire monkey springs to life. The two are both fairly fast pokemon, facing off, running around the field. "Moonblast!"

"Close Combat!" It's all or nothing.

The ninetales is faster, barely. It's so close he can hardly tell, but the white fox lands the hit first. Rupert takes a lot of damage, but he still manages to hit the opponent with the Close Combat. The ninetales faints. Emmett is the winner.

Something about his opponents face makes him feel unsteady. It's like she came to this match expecting to lose. It was a fun battle, but too easy for this close to the finals.

After the battle he went and watched recordings of her other battles. She's amazing. She had a pokemon she swept the competitors with, one that no one was able to defeat. Seeing it battle he knew he would have lost had she used it. He only has two pokemon with a type advantage and it had a counter move that could have defeated both of them. He thought he saw a key stone necklace. She didn't have to use her mega. He didn't use his. "I wonder why she didn't, though." That young girl is scary. How does she have a salamence?

The next day he entered the finals, the first battle, and got creamed by a guy named Damien. Why does he look familiar as well?

 _Six Years Earlier_

"Emmett, pay attention." Emmett looked from his desk, dazed. His blue eyes blinked slowly as he looked around the room. He was in school. He let out a sigh and glanced at what the teacher had written on the board. They were studying pokemon types and how the different types effected one another, strengths and weaknesses. They had gone over grass, fire and water first, as those were the types of the starter pokemon, but now they had moved on to bug types. Emmett was board. He already knew all of this stuff.

"Mrs. Kincaid, I know all this stuff."

The blonde woman crossed her arms and walked over to him. Emmett couldn't help but stare at her hair. It was shiny, but unnaturally so. It was stiff. How much hairspray did she put in? If there was a fire type anywhere near her he was sure her hair would go up in flames. Emmett gave a small laugh, imagining his teacher running around because her hair was on fire. "Is something funny, Mr. Rowan?"

Emmett didn't stop smiling but looked up at his teacher once again. "No ma'am. Nothing at all."

Mrs. Kincaid made a face that looked like she had just eaten a sitrus berry. "Then pay attention."

It was his turn to make a sitrus berry face. "I just told you! I know all this. This class it way too easy. Can't I go to Mr. Harris's class and practice battling instead?"

"Fine then. I'll make you a deal, Emmett. If you can get a perfect score on the unit test right now then you can go to Mr. Harris's for the rest of the unit." A large smile spread across Emmett's face. "If you can't then you have detention for a week and have to miss Mr. Harris's class, and if you fail then you miss his class for the rest of the unit."

Emmett nodded. "Deal!" This would be a piece of cake. He had this in the bag. He looked around at his classmates, who were all staring at him like he had gone crazy. Emmett shrugged as Mrs. Kincaid brought over a fairy thick booklet of test questions. "Perfect score, huh?"

Mrs. Kincaid nodded. "If you back out now then I'll just give you detention for today for sleeping in class."

Emmett shook his head. "Nah, I got this." He was on his way to be a trainer. Tomorrow was his tenth birthday. He would get his starter, and would train with it everyday in Mr. Harris's class and win the annual Trainer's School competition in May.

Mrs. Kincaid looked around the class. "Anyone else want to give it a shot? I'll extend the same deal. Make a perfect score and you can go to battle class for the rest of the unit."

A usually timid little girl who sat in the back of the class, blonde hair in pigtails, big green eyes, spattering of freckles across her nose, raised her hand. "Are we going to get detention if we don't?"

Mrs. Kincaid shook her head. "I guess not. Only if Emmett fails. He was the one dozing off in class."

Everyone in the class raised their hands in the air. Mr. Harris's class was their favorite.

The teacher let out a sigh and passed the test out to the rest of her sixteen students. "Begin."

Emmett looked at the first question. 'Name the fire starter pokemon from the Kanto, Kalos and Unova regions."

He filled it in easily, knowing it was charmander, fennekin and tepig.

'What is the one pokemon type that does not have a gym?'

Emmett smirked. This was the best his teacher could do? Dark type, also easy.

He got through the other thirty-eight questions quickly, only getting stumped on one question, 'What is the rarest type?' not remembering definitively if it was ghost or ice. He went through the different types in his head, remembering studying this with his dad. He remembered there were forty-four known ghost type pokemon, five point five percent of all pokemon. There were forty known ice types, or five percent of all pokemon. He wrote down ice. Emmett was the first one finished with his test.

He gave the packet to the teacher with a smile on his face as she looked over all the questions. Ten questions in and he hadn't missed any. Twenty. Twenty-five. He saw her pick up her red pen on question thirty-two but she put it down again, not writing anything on his test. Mrs. Kincaid looked up once she finished grading. Her eyes were narrowed. She was a strict teacher, but she made good on her word. "Very well. You can go to Mr. Harris's class. I'll write you a note." Mrs. Kincaid honestly didn't see the point of having him attend when it was obvious he already knew everything on the test. She wished Emmett was a better student, but it was obvious his heart was on the battlefield. She had a soft spot for the student, though if anyone asked she would deny it.

After school Emmett raced home to the lab. His room was upstairs, not in the actual lab part of the house, but he had to go through the lab to get to get to his room. He had chores to do downstairs once he got home, like feed the lab pokemon their snack, poffins, which he became skilled at making. He greeted the six pokemon that currently lived in the lab. He was swarmed by Starly, Staravia and Chimchar as soon as he walked in the door. Emmett gave each of them a pat, waving at Staraptor who sat on her nest. Emmett suspected there were eggs underneath her that she was keeping warm. Starly and Staravia returned to the small tree growing in the lab where they lived while Emmett made his way to the kitchen, Chimchar jumping onto his shoulder, Piplup and Turtwig racing to keep up with him.

"Alright guys, what should we make today?"

Emmett looked in the fridge and smiled at the bounty. The lab assistants said they were going to Floaroma Town to look at a population of combee for a few days. They must have returned and brought back all these berries. "Okay, Chimchar, how does a Tomato-Figy Poffin sound?" Chimchar bouced up and down, happy with the idea of a spicy poffin. "And Pecha-Wiki for Piplup?" Piplup chirped in agreement, nearly falling over in excitement. "Great! Turtwig, how does Aspear-Rabuta sound?" Turtwig nodded slowly, but Emmett didn't miss the twinkle in the grass type's eye. "Okay. Now how about you three each bring me a berry you think Starly, Staravia and Starptor will like?"

The starters each looked at the berries. Emmett had no doubt Chimchar just picked the up the first berry it saw, a hondew berry. That was a good choice though, Emmett noted. Piplup and Turtwig each took care in picking a berry for their friends, coming back with a rawst and chesto berry respectively. Emmett nodded at the pokemon. "Great choices! I'm sure they're going to love them!"

Emmett fixed up the poffins, taking great care with each, and placing them in the respective bowls carefully. He carried a tray with all the bowls out to the main part of the lab. He placed Starly and Staravia's bowl near the tree but away from the nest, while Staraptor's bowl was placed close to her branch. He also added a few vitamins to her poffins. Staraptor gave a small coo of thanks and began eating her snack. Emmett then placed the starter pokemon's bowls in front of them. "Eat up everyone. I've got to go do my homework."

Emmett left the pokemon and walked up the stairs where he started working on battle homework, developing strategies that would help him win battles. He had been working an hour when he heard a knock on the door followed by the sound of it opening. His dad walked in. "Emmett, I got a call from the school today."

He sighed. He should have known a lecture was coming. "I'm sorry."

The professor patted the top of his son's head. "Emmett, I know you think you know everything there is to know, but you can still learn. I learn new things everyday."

Emmett nodded. "I know, but there's only so much I can learn from practical skill. I can apply what I learned on the battlefield, or in breeding class. I know all the basics. I know types. I know how different types are _supposed_ to interact with one another. Example, seviper and zangoose are enemies, I get it, but I want to see what happens if the two are raised from eggs and raised like brothers,? I can learn that if I go out. I can form bonds with them."

Professor Rowan nodded, understanding his son. "I understand. Just try to not cause anymore trouble in the future. Promise me that?"

Emmett nodded. "I promise."

The professor rubbed his son's head, messing up the unruly brown hair even further before pulling something from his pocket. "Happy Birthday, Emmett."

Emmett looked at what was in his dad's hand. A pokeball. "Really?"

The professor laughed. "Why don't you let it out and see what kind of pokemon it is?"

Emmett did so eagerly. He released the pokemon and saw the starter her had grown closest to. "Chimchar!"

Chimchar hopped onto Emmett's bed and started jumping around happily. Emmett ran up to his dad and wrapped his arms around him. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

 **A/N**

 **This chapter ended up being longer than I expected it to. I've never written battle scenes before, so please tell me what I can do to make battles better in the future.**

 **Fun fact, I looked up the speeds of Alolan Ninetales and Infernape while writing and Ninetales was only one point faster.**


	4. Platinum

_TenYears Old_

"What do you mean we're moving?" The little boy's golden-yellow eyes fill with shock and take over his entire face. "I don't wanna move. You told me I could go on a pokemon journey before too long!"

He received a pat on his head from his sister. She ran her fingers through his night colored hair and let out a small breath. "I know, Damien. You can go on one once we get to Alola. There's a league there you can challenge."

The little boy shook his sister's hand off his head and ran over to his bed, where he sat down, crossed his arms and legs. "We can't leave. You did your journey here, Anna!"

"That was thirteen years ago. Things have changed." Anna turned her attention towards the television and eyed it. This was the right decision. "I got offered a job in Alola, one I can't pass." That was partially true. She could have passed if she wanted to, but it was better this way. Safer.

"Well then you go and I'll do my journey here!" Tears started pricking in those golden eyes. Anna couldn't turn away. "I don't want to leave. Mom and Dad are here. Nicki is here..."

The sister made her way to the edge of the bed and sat next to her brother. Two years ago there was a fire. Nicki was their fourteen year old sister. She was playing with her magmar inside the house. There was a broken pipe, causing a gas leak. No one had noticed it. As soon as the fire type let out an ember the whole house burst into flames. The only reason Anna and Damien were safe was because she had taken Damien for a ride on her bastiodon in the park. They could hear the explosion, though they couldn't immediately see the flames. Anna had recalled her bastiodon and took her little brother's hand in hers. When she saw it was their house that had burst into flames Anna turned her brother away so he couldn't see. Could an eight year old comprehend what happened? She sent out her bastiodon once again, as well as her lopunny and pachirisu. Her voice shook with every word. "Take Damien back to the park. Watch him until I go get him." Her pokemon understood the severity of the situation. Once they rounded the corner Anna fell to her knees. Tears fell from her eyes She could see the firemen working diligently to put out the fire, but she could tell no one had survived. Nothing would come out of that tragedy.

Anna swore to herself that day nothing would happen to her little brother. He was the only family she had left. When rumors surfaced that Team Galactic was growing in power once again, Anna became uneasy. She became terrified when she heard they were kidnapping young children and trainers. It was a rumor. There was no proof they were doing such things, but Anna had to be cautious. Team Skull in the Alola region was much less of a threat. There were no horrible blizzards that caused the deaths of dozens of trainers each year. There was warm weather and a large variety of pokemon. Some of the best trainers in the world came from Alola, and many more went there to train. Anna liked the idea of going to Alola because her brother would be much safer there.

It still broke her heart to see him cry, though. "I got you a present," she said quietly. Damien sniffed and looked up at his sister. His eyes were still red rimmed but the steady stream of tears had stopped. She opened her bag and pulled out a sizable rock and placed it in the young boy's hands. A small smile spread across Damien's face as he inspected it.

"Is this-?"

Anna nodded. "I went to the mines. I didn't stop until I found you a fossil of your own. That's what dad did for me and my partner. I thought it would be fitting for me to do the same for you."

Damien placed the fossil carefully on the bed beside him before giving Anna a hug. "Thank you."

Anna placed a kiss on the top of her brother's head. "You're welcome." Anna let out a sigh. "I'm not selling our house. Oreburgh is where we grew up, Damien. We'll come back and visit. We will still see our friends."

"We're moving because of Team Galactic, huh?"

This took Anna by surprise. "What?"

"I see you watching the news. You get tense every time they're brought up. They warn us to stay away from strangers even more now in school. People on the street talk about them. It didn't take me long to put it together."

Anna would forget how much of a genius her brother was, sometimes. He was perceptive for his age. Even before the accident he was quiet. The only one he'd talk to after was Anna. She knew that he was quiet, but she also knew he saw, heard and experienced everything around him. "You know me too well, little brother." She ruffled his hair and grabbed a small bundle of money out of her bag and gave it to him. "The museum is open for another hour. If you hurry you can get your pokemon restored."

"Okay!" There was finally some light back in his eyes. "Do you know what kind it is?"

Anna nodded. "Yup, but I'm not telling you. You'll just have to go see for yourself."

Damien smiled and picked up the rock, gently placing it in his backpack. This was his future partner. "I'll be back before dinner," he said.

"Don't talk to strangers."

Damien simply gave a solemn nod. Anna knew he wouldn't talk to strangers, but she still worried.

The young boy walked down the sidewalk. It was concrete paved, but covered in a thick layer of mud and dirt, so the gray slabs only peaked through occasionally. People stared at him as he walked. Before the accident it was because of his eyes. No one had ever seen anything like them. He didn't mind the attention then. Now people stared at him in pity. The explosion was the worst thing people had seen in town in decades. He could hear their whispers, pitying him and Anna, saying they were far too young to have to deal with this. Damien learned to tune these whispers out. He did the same today, thinking about what kind of pokemon could possibly be inside the fossil.

Everyone in school wanted a fossil pokemon of their own. They were rare in the mines, and having one was a sort of status symbol. You were cool if you had one. Most people got a geodude, zubat, machop, or, if they were lucky, onix or ponyta. Damien stayed away from those with the fire horse. He was afraid of fire type pokemon ever since that day. He did a good job hiding his fear. Not even Anna suspected his fear of fire.

What kind of fossils had they learned about in school? Old Amber contained Aerodactyl, but he was given a rock, so that ruled that out. The fossil itself was fairy smooth, a spherical shape. He ruled out the possibility of getting a lileep, anorith, archen, tyrunt, amaura, or, his favorite, omanyte. He was kinda of sad about not getting the blue shelled pokemon. Anyone who had one of those became extra popular at school. He really hoped he didn't have a dome fossil...

He entered the museum, seeing a pair of desks at the front. One has a sign that said "Welcome" with the prices of tickets for admissions, and the other had a sign about fossil restoration. Damien walked up to the latter. No one was there but there was a bell with a note taped next to it, telling Damien to ring for assistance. He did, and a man came out wearing a lab coat.

"Can I help you?" Damien said nothing, but pulled the fossil out of his backpack, placing it on the desk. "Alright then. Wait here." Damien noticed the man seemed annoyed with everything, but he did his job efficiently, coming back after five minutes with a pokeball. "Here you go, kid."

Damien smiled and took the pokeball, leaving the museum through the doors he came in. He walked until he reached a bench near the park and he let the pokemon out. He smiled at the sight before him. "So you're my partner, huh? Cranidos. I rather like that."

 _Twenty-Three Years Old_

Damien sighed as he looked at the mass of land from his seat on the boat. The boat was crowded and he felt himself get uneasy by the amount of people crowding to the window to get a look at the island ahead of them. "Home sweet Alola, huh?" he muttered quietly to himself. He didn't hate Alola, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he never felt like he belonged here. Damien just felt like he stood out. Everyone had dark skin, thick, wavy, dark brown or black hair and dark eyes. He was pale, in comparison. His black hair was straight with little texture. His eyes were bright. He was lucky Alolan's were such nice people. They took him in, treated them like one of their own. His sister even talked to one of the kahuna's and he was able to take the Island Challenge. He had fun and liked it here, but the only place he could truly call home was Sinnoh.

"Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" Damien was taken out of his thoughts by a young woman. She had long blonde hair and big blue eyes, tanned skin, a smile that could blind someone. She was pretty. Damien shook his head and moved his bag to the floor. "My name is Brooke." Brooke held out a hand for him to shake. "What about you?"

Damien looked at the outstretched hand and took it after a moment. "Damien."

"Nice to meet you, Damien. Are you here on vacation or...?"

He shook his head. "I live here."

Brooke smiled. "That's cool! It's my first visiting. I have always wanted to come. Alola is listed as one of the best vacation spots in the world. I'm a travel blogger. Well, me and Meowth are. I head there is a variety of Meowth here that are dark type. Is that true?" Damien nodded, growing less and less interested in the girl's words with each one she spoke. She was nice, but Damien could tell she was flirting by the way she flipped her hair and batted her eyes between every statement. "Maybe you could show me around?" Her hand had creeped up. Her slender hand grabbed onto the top of his arm. Damien politely moved away.

"Sorry, I can't. I came back here to train for the Kanto League."

Brooke's eyes sparkled. "You're going to Kanto? That's where I'm from!" She dug in her bag and pulled out a piece of paper and pen, quickly scribbling some numbers onto it. "Call me when you get there. I can help you find your way around."

Damien looked at the number and put it in his pocket. "Sure." He had no intention of doing so. Brooke was nice but he wasn't interested. Girls had been paying him more attention recently, he noticed, ever since he won the Unova League a month and a half ago. He defeated the champion and was offered the position, but turned it down. There was more he wanted to do than battle.

After ten minutes the boat docked and all the passengers filed off. Damien grabbed his bag and shuffled out. He had another boat to catch tomorrow morning to take him to Ula'ula island. He was just going to stay in the Heahea City Pokemon Center until then. He walked on the sidewalk, avoiding the tourists, keeping his head down when he started to hear yelling. A crowd was starting to form around the Pokemon Center. Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Damien made his way toward the cause of the commotion.

There were two people, a young man and woman, both too beautiful to be engaged in a fight outside a Pokemon Center. The guy had brown hair, light brown, almost blonde, with eyes blue like the sky. He wore a pale blue button down tucked into a pair of blue jeans. He had a gray vest that somehow made him seem casual and sophisticated at the same time. The girl had brown hair as well, but it was darker in color, like milk chocolate and fell in waves down her back, reaching her waist. She wore a maroon skirt and a black blouse tucked in with a pair of white leggings and black boots. She didn't look like she belonged here. Damien felt like he knew them, though. They looked vaguely familiar, but he didn't recognize them for their looks. It was their mannerisms, the way they interacted with one another. It was like seeing childhood friends fighting. He was compelled to go over to them. "What's going on here?"

The two look startled to see someone interrupting their argument. They each had a pokeball in their hand. A battle was about to break out. "Why do you care?" the girl asked.

Damien shrugged. "If you're going to battle then take it somewhere else. You're making a scene."

The guy lowered his voice so the crowd couldn't hear what he was saying. "I saw her take someone's pokemon."

Damien looked at the girl, noticing seven pokeballs. "Give it back." He grabbed one of his own pokeballs, teaming up with the guy. He was against unfair battles, two on one, but if the circumstances call for it then he will do whatever it takes.

She let out a smile. "What happened to taking the battle somewhere else?"

Damien released the pokemon, letting a huge garchomp stand in front of them. "Give the pokemon you stole back." The onlookers backed away from the scene, seeing the huge dragon with the mega stone hanging from a chain on its neck. "I'm not going to ask again."

Taking a cue from his battle partner, the other guy let out a pokemon as well, an altaria, also with a mega stone. In the back of his head Damien realized where he knew the guy from. He battled him six years ago in the Sinnoh League. That felt incomplete, though. He was familiar even then.

The girl put her hands in the air in surrender. "I'm powerful, but not stupid. If you want the pokemon back so much then fine." She tossed the pokemon to the guy next to Damien. "If I were you I'd look into the trainer I took it from, though." She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "You wouldn't be so quick to battle me then." The two of them returned their pokemon to their balls.

She started to walk away. Damien kept his eyes on her, suddenly remembering where he'd seen her face as well. A few years ago he investigated Team Galactic, always having an interest in them because they were the reason he had to move from Sinnoh. He recognized her as one of their admins, Commander Venus.

Damien felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see it was the guy. "Thanks. I'll look into the trainer. If anything happens I'll take the pokemon to an officer or professor."

Damien nodded. "Welcome."

He walked away, feeling incomplete. What was going on? He wanted to know more about those two. Why did he feel like he knew them so well? He continued walking until he came to a bench in a small park. He sat down and watched the sky. Sunset. He supposed it was pretty. He watched it sink into the sky, watching in silence as the small stars came out and littered the sky when he suddenly felt very strange. A yellow light started floating towards him. "What?" He watched it get closer and closer, not moving, until it finally engulfed him.


	5. Space

Chapter Four

 _Twenty Years Old_

Lyra was infuriated. Yes, she tried to steal the pokemon, but she had seen it being mistreated by the trainer. She had no use for a slowpoke anyway. Team Galactic had no use for a slowpoke. If only that jerk hadn't seen her. She wasn't planning on keeping the pokemon. Maybe give it to one of those Aether Foundation people. She wouldn't say where she had gotten it, but the fact that is was covered in scratches and it's tail was missing would be a hint. She just wanted to scream. Instead, she took deep breaths. She needed to remember what she was doing here in Alola. She took a small journal out of her bag. It was inconspicuous enough to pass for a normal journal, black with metallic golden dots. No one would suspect it belonged to Commander Venus of Team Galactic. She was here to investigate the Ultra Beasts. She needed to find out if there was a way for Team Galactic to get to their world, or see if their world connected to the Distortion World in anyway, or see if they would be able to recreate the universe using the Ultra Space. Lyra took a breath before sitting under a tree. "I'll check in with Mars and Jupiter tomorrow morning," she muttered to herself.

A pink light appeared in the sky. It seemed like it was dancing. "What?" Lyra watched it closely, as it made its way towards her. All logic told her to move away, don't let the light catch her, but she stayed put. It was like she was frozen. The pink light enveloped her and she drifted off, like going to sleep.

When she woke up she was sitting in a cave. She could hear waves lapping from the outside. It was cold here, but she didn't feel uncomfortable. It felt familiar. The air didn't smell like salt. She wasn't in Alola. The cave was pitch black, though. She couldn't even see her hand if she put it right up to her face. She opened her bag, grabbing the pokeball she was searching for from its spot. "Libra, come out." A flash of red light and impossible sunshine filled the cavern. A ninetales, cream colored, sat in front of her, obediently awaiting her trainer's command. Lyra pet the fur on the fire type's head and looked around. There was only one way to go. "Stay close," she said to her pokemon, not wanting to get separated.

The ninetales complied and walked next to her trainer, walking down the narrow, stone corridor. They walked cautiously, slowing down when the hall opened into another cavern, larger than the last. She was surprised to see two others there, looking as lost as she did, even more so when she saw that it was two familiar faces. "You!"

The two looked her way, their hands immediately twitching to their pokeballs. "No need for that," a voice called. "I summoned you all here." A blinding light filled the room and four figures appeared, three small ones and a larger one, all elegant in their own way. Lyra felt her breath leave her body. She couldn't believe what she was looking at. It was the legendary pokemon Cresselia, Uxie, Azelf and Mesprit. Cresselia looked at the three other pokemon. "Thank you for bringing them here."

The three little pokemon didn't seem to have the ability to communicate with humans the same way Cresselia could, so they simply danced around. Libra, the ninetales, backed her way closer to her trainer, ready to protect her at any cost. Lyra could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. "You three have changed so much over the years," the Cresselia said. She looked at the first guy, the one who had seen Lyra take the pokeball. "Dialga, or I guess you go by the name Emmett, now. Emmett Rowan." The pokemon faced me then. She could feel the legendary pokemon sizing her up, looking her up and down. "Lyra Justine. Commander Venus. How many masks do you wear today, Palkia?" Palkia? The name sounded familiar, like a distant memory. She watched as she faced the last of the, the dark haired trainer. "And Giratina, dark as always, even as human, Damien Bradley."

"Why did you call us Dialga, Palkia and Giratina?" Damien asked slowly.

The Cresselia looked at each of us in turn once again. "That's because that's who you are."

Lyra shook her head. "No way. We're legendary pokemon? A stuffy professor's kid, an insufferable know-it-all, and one of Team Galactic's admins? How is that even possible?" Legendary pokemon or not, I'm not about to believe every word that it says blindly. "Prove it."

The cresselia bowed her great head and looked at each of the lake guardians, each of them making their way over to us. Mesprit floated in front of Lyra, looking at her with interest before placing its hands on her head. "What are you-?"

They came flooding back. Memories. Fragments. Not all of them, but enough for Lyra to know the legendary pokemon wasn't lying. She remembered seeing Arceus after being created, seeing Dialga and Giratina with her. Memories of imagining and creating stars appeared. It seems like a dream, but she knew it was an impossible memory, and it ended too soon. She wanted to see more. She wanted to know why she was here. What is the purpose of this?

As quickly as the memories came, they vanished, fleeting, like the last remnants of dreams. "That was me?" she asked quietly. She could hardly believe everything that had happened to her.

The great pokemon nodded. Of course it was. Who else would it be? But why was she here, then, if she was some great, legendary beast, what happened to cause everything to become this? She looked at the other two, the guys, looking just as starry eyed as she felt. She knew them. Dialga and Giratina. The familiar feeling she felt... everything clicked into place.

The two of them looked at her, probably wondering what she was doing as part of a team that once sought to capture and use the Creation Trio for evil purposes. She didn't feel it was any of their business.

Cresselia raised her great head and spoke to the trainers once more. "The world is in grave danger. You three are the only one who can piece it back together."

Emmett crossed his arms and looked at her. "How? Why? Can you tell us why we're like this? Why we don't have memory of once being the legendary pokemon?"

She shook her head. "I cannot tell you everything. I can say your memories were taken because the three of you often wage war against one another. A war between ancient deities would bring the world closer to its destruction. If you listen to your hearts you will know what you need to do."

Emmett spoke once again. "Can't you be straight with us? Listen to our hearts? What kind of bullshit is that?"

"If you're lost find the Lake Guardians. They'll never be far away." Cresselia faded away. Pink light, from what Lyra now assumed was Mesprit, engulfed her, and she was taken away from this, like it was all a dream.

 _Ten Years Old_

Lyra sat in the corner of the tiny room, crying until she was out of tears to sob. She wanted her mom. She wanted her pokemon. She didn't want to be in this tiny gray room anymore. Someone came to the door every couple of hours to let her out, to go to the bathroom and go sit and listen to what adults had to say. They asked her every day if she would join Team Galactic, and every day she said no. She was getting tired of saying no. If she said yes they said they would let her out.

Lyra was shaking. The clothes she carefully packed for her journey had been taken away. She was wearing nothing but a silver, thin dress that fell over her thin frame, hitting her knees. She knew she wasn't the only kid here. There were at least six others, all boys. They looked just as sad as she did. Maybe they would feel better if they said yes too. One boy had. He was following a grunt around, wearing a child's version of the uniform. He didn't look happy, but he was no longer being held in a tiny closet. He even had his own pokeball. He knew the others were being held in there, too. She heard them pounding against the walls. They probably heard her crying.

A loud bang came from the door of her closet and Lyra let out a startled scream. "Get up, kid! Time to go!"

Lyra quickly scrambled to her feet, like she was taught, and looked down and the grunt took her hand and walked her to the people in charge. She didn't like how this grunt held her hand. He wasn't gentle with her, like her mom was. He pulled her roughly, like how her brother would when she was going too slow. She wanted her brother to come save her. He would be looking for her. She knew it. Once he came to save her she could leave this place, but she couldn't stand waiting in that little closet by herself anymore.

A group of people sat in front of her. She had come to recognize them over the past few days, recognizing each of their faces. She was pushed into a line, standing shoulder to shoulder with a few of the boys. "Have any of you thought about joining us?"

None of them did anything. Finally, Lyra stepped forward, tears filling her eyes. "I just want out of that closet."

One of the people at the table stood up suddenly and took her to a fitting room. She didn't look at the person who was escorting her. "I knew you would join us," she heard the voice say. "You were my favorite, you know. You're the cutest out of all of the children we have. I'll make sure you're given special treatment."

She didn't look up, just stepped into the clothes she was given, letting the woman help her zip up the dress. "Can I leave the closet?"

"Of course, and if you help out Team Galactic, then you'll never have to go back."

She was afraid of small spaces. She liked openness, being able to see the stars. While the closet was uncomfortable for the others, it was the worst kind of torture for her. "I'll obey, I promise," she said, tears once again falling.

She felt arms close around her. The woman who escorted her hugged her. "I know." Lyra cried on her shoulder while the woman stroked her hair. "I was against this, just so you know. I wanted to treat you all better. I'll make sure you make it big in here. For now just do as your told. You'll never have to go back to that closet. If anyone tries to make you, just tell them that Commander Jupiter will be mad."

Lyra continued to cry. Jupiter continued to stroke the little girl's hair. She had always wanted a daughter of her own. Jupiter promised the little girl she would be important in Team Galactic. She intended to keep that promise.

 **A/N**

 **Thank you to all of you who have review this story! It means a lot to me. If you have the time please leave a review and tell me what you thought!**


	6. Time

Chapter Five

 _Twenty-Two Years Old_

The blue light that engulfed Emmett placed him down in the middle of a forest. Next to him a yellow and pink light placed down the two others. He watched them carefully. Palkia and Giratina. He was face to face with two legendary dragons. They didn't look like dragons, though Emmett supposed he didn't look like one either. They had some mission to save the world, huh? No clues. Nothing to go on. Listen to their hearts. "Well, your hearts speaking to either of you guys?" Damien cracked a smile at the joke but Lyra crossed her arms and looked the other way. "So are you just going to be difficult this whole time? It's not like any of us asked for this."

She turned back around and glared at him. "You hate me."

"You stole a pokemon then I learned from Cresselia that you're a member of Team Galactic. Not only that but you're one of their admins. I think I have every right to hate you." Emmett glared back at her. His cool blue eyes pierced her.

"Did you find the trainer for the slowpoke? How can you tell me I was in the wrong stealing form him? It was being tortured." Lyra let out a huffy breath and looked Emmett in the eyes. "Don't judge me when you don't even know me."

Damien went between them, breaking up a fight before it began. "Listen, we're stuck with each other for the time being. We can meet up at the Pokemon Center tomorrow at nine and get going then. You two take some time to cool down. I'll go do some research."

"Fine." Lyra walked away, heading the direction of the town. Emmett glared at her. She couldn't be completely clueless to what Team Galactic was doing. She was their Commander Venus.

Emmett looked at Damien. "I'll see you tomorrow then," and walked away, going further into the forest.

Once he was far enough in to where he was confident no one would find him he let out his partner. "Rupert, come out." The infernape was released and looked at his trainer curiously. "This is crazy. I don't know what to do, Rup." The infernape just bounced in place in response, listening to every word. "Did you know I was a pokemon?" Rupert shook his head. "Not only that but I'm Dialga. I apparently created time. I have to go save the world. What do I do with that?"

Rupert bounced up and started punching the trees around him, getting out the energy he had pent up. Emmett let out a laugh. "Battle, huh? I don't think I'll be taking down any pokemon in grandiose battles any time soon, bud." Emmett smiled. Maybe there was something to Rupert's idea. Battling alway made Emmett feel better. "I'm sure there's someone in Heahea that would battle us."

Emmett returned Rupert to his pokeball and made his way back to the city. He asked around and found someone that accepted his challenge. That person just so happened to be incredibly weak. He beat the trainer's entire team with just one pokemon. "So, you're battling weak trainers? How's that make you feel? I thought you had more pride than that?"

Emmett looked at the person who spoke. Lyra. "Well, they accepted my challenge. I wouldn't have offered if I knew I'd sweep that badly."

Lyra smiled. "Fine then. One on one. You and me. I'll battle you."

Emmett smirked. "I'm pretty sure you lost last time we battled. I'm not interested."

"You're assuming I haven't been training for the past six years. I've grown as a trainer. I threw that battle I had with you, by the way. If I wanted to I could have won that easily."

There was part of what she was saying Emmett knew was true. She want incredible in the other matches. Still, he didn't want to believe her. "Fine. We'll battle. Three on three like last time? This time with no substitutions?"

She nodded. "That sounds great."

They went to a battle field in the middle of Heahea City. A small crowd gathered once they saw the two trainers take their spots across from one another. Emmett looked at the crowd and smiled at them, giving them a small wave. They gave smalls cheers. Lyra rolled her eyes and grabbed one of her pokeballs. "Go, Saros!" The crobat made an appearance.

Emmett smiled. He had a good counter for the flying type. "Go, Isaiah!" In front of Emmett stood a weavile. The ice type had the clear advantage, and Lyra had no choice but to stay in.

"Saros, use Cross Poison!" The purple bat flew in and hit the black pokemon with illuminated purple wings.

"Use Ice Beam!" The crobat was close, but quick. It danced out of the way before the ice attack could hit it. "Damn," he muttered under his breath. He could hear Lyra cheer on in the background.

"Saros, use Giga Impact!"

Emmett looked surprised. That was a powerful move, risky, though. Crobat wont be able to move on the next turn. That would be the perfect chance to land the Ice Beam. The Giga Impact connected and Isaiah was sent sprawling backwards. He had taken a fair deal of damage. "Are you okay?"

"Weavile." A grunted response came, but confirmation he was still able to battle.

"Good. Use Ice Beam!" A strong of ice came from the weavile and directly hit the crobat, sending it hurtling down to the ground, fainted.

"Saros, return." Lyra looked at the pokemon. "Thank you for your hard battle." She put the pokeball away and grabbed another. "Libra, come out!"

Intense sunshine filled the arena as the ninetales took her place. This would be a difficult battle. "Pretty cheap sending a fire type after an ice type, isn't it?"

"Pretty cheap sending an ice type after a flying type."

Emmett smirked at the response. "Touché." This was shaping up to be a fun battle.

 _Sixteen Years Ago_

Emmett sat outside on the curb. All the other students had been picked up already. His dad was over an hour late. The only ones there to keep him company were his teacher and her mareep. He watched as lazy snowflakes made their way down. His dad was always late. It wasn't a new occurrence. A meeting with the other professors from the different regions probably ran long. Maybe a new trainer was getting their first pokemon. Maybe he fell asleep at his desk. His dad never got enough sleep. He would go days without sleeping and then crash at completely random times. "Emmett, do you want to go inside? It's starting to snow."

Emmett shook his head. "My dad told me to wait here until he picks me up." He pulled his hat down over his ears, ignoring the cold. "Besides, the snow is fun."

His teacher sat down next to him, her mareep on his other side. "Well, do you want some hot chocolate? I can ask one of the other teachers to get you a cup."

"No thanks, Ms. Blare. Dad always takes me for hot chocolate when it snows. He's just late today."

Ms. Blare sighed. The young teacher felt bad for her student. His father was a very busy, famous, important man in the region. From the conversations she had with the man she knew he loved his son a lot, and made as much time for him as he could. Ever since his wife died when Emmett was two he made it a point to show his son extra affection. It didn't exactly translate to punctuality, though. Eventually a man in a long trench coat came running. He was just a silhouette at first but it became apparent it was Professor Rowan. "I'm so sorry I'm late again, Ms. Blare! There was a new trainer at the lab and they were having difficulty picking their starter."

Emmett's eyes lit up when he saw his father. "What did they choose, Dad?"

Professor Rowan smiled. "The young man chose Turtwig."

Emmett grabbed on to his father's hand. "I can't wait to get my first pokemon! I love them all so much!"

Ms. Blare smiled. "He really does. He's amazing with all the different pokemon. He helps the other kids out too when they have problems. We started our battle class and he could hold his own against some of our older students."

Professor Rowan looked down at his son with pride. "Is that so?"

The seven year old was giving his father a large smile. "Well, it's not hard. The pokedex entires help out a lot."

"You've read parts of the pokedex, Emmett?" Ms. Blare asked. He nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! I have my own. I've read all the entires I could. Every time I see a new pokemon I ask my pokedex to help me and it does! It's so cool!"

Ms. Blare nodded. "Very good." She turned her attention to the professor giving him a kind smile. "Try to be on time tomorrow?"

"I'll do my best."

 **A/N**

 **I'm sorry this chapter is shorter than the previous ones. This was a bit of a filler chapter before the plot starts to pick up again. Despite that, I hope you all enjoyed. Please leave a review and tell me what you think!**


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